Attachment 1

Attachment 1

Women’s Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices Overview

About the Women’s Bureau

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Women’s Bureau (WB) was created by law in 1920 to

develop policies and standards and conduct inquiries to safeguard the interests of working women; to advocate for their equality and economic security; and to promote quality work environments. The Women’s Bureau uses data and policy analysis, grantmaking, and stakeholder engagement to drive changes in policies and practices. For more than 100 years, the Women’s Bureau has been at the forefront of advocacy for working women.

The Women’s Bureau is made up of a national office and six regional offices across the country, through which it fosters and maintains local and community partnerships, and conducts meaningful outreach and education initiatives.

Why is the Women’s Bureau collecting this information?

The Women’s Bureau seeks to better understand how child care prices and availability affect women’s labor supply. With support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, WB will be collecting Market Rate Survey (MRS) reports and data tabulations. These reports and data files will be used to update the National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP), currently the only source of local area child care prices across the country. Other existing sources of child care data rely on national- or state-level child care price data, which underestimate prices in urban areas and mask significant county-to-county price differences.

With your help, we can update the NDCP and continue to provide this valuable resource, offering a more comprehensive picture of child care prices at the local level in the United States.

How will the data be used?

The data collection will result in a public-use database of county-level child care prices, interactive maps, and reports. The WB is requesting available MRS data between the years 2019 and 2022 to complete the update to the most recent child care price data available. Data collected for this project will be aggregated and used for statistical purposes only. No identifying information will be disclosed. In accordance with a data sharing agreement between the Women’s Bureau and the Office of Child Care (OCC), data collected will also be shared with OCC for statistical purposes. This information will not be used in compliance determinations.

Where can I find more information?

The NDCP website currently offers reports, fact sheets, interactive maps, and data based on the 2008-2018 market rate surveys. These data were obtained through the support of many states who generously provided reports and data files for these years. These resources are available at: www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/childcare. An updated set of resources will be made available on this website once the 2019 through 2022 data collection is completed. Email ndcp@dol.gov with any questions or comments.